After the German federal government abruptly withdrew incentives for electric vehicles (EVs) in mid-December 2023, EV sales in Germany have dwindled.
FRANKFURT, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Continental, a leading German auto parts supplier, reported a slight sales decline for its automotive business during the first half of this year. This announcement comes just two days after the company revealed it is considering spinning off its automotive division.
Sales of its vehicle products went down by 3.7 percent to 9.77 billion euros (10.66 billion U.S. dollars) in the first six months this year, according to the company's first half-year 2024 results released on Wednesday. Since the end of June last year, over 3,400 jobs have been axed at the company.
Continental blamed the decline in vehicle production in Europe for the sales drop. Production of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles plunged by 4 percent in Europe in the first half of the year.
On Monday, the company disclosed that it was preparing for a spin-off of its automotive business.
"A spin-off of automotive has the potential to create competitive opportunities, enhance agility and increase transparency. As a strong, independent entity, automotive would be able to harness its full potential for creating value," said Wolfgang Reitzle, chairman of the supervisory board of Continental.
Justifying the company's decision, Continental CEO Nikolai Setzer said there had been large market evolutions in the automotive sector in recent months. He said that, in the future, the markets will "sharply" fluctuate due to regional market developments and "software driven technology," which he believes will require "greater flexibility and entrepreneurial freedom."
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